Chapter 7

The Kingdom Preached

We now
come to the central issue of our study. When Jesus was
on earth did he endorse the Old Testament concept of
the Kingdom of God or did he alter it?

JESUS CLAIMED TO BE THE MESSIAH

First we
note that Jesus clearly said he was the promised
Messiah, or Christ. Early in his ministry a Samaritan
woman said to him:

I
know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ:
when he is come, he will tell us all things.

The immediate reply of Jesus was:

I
that speak unto thee am he(John 4:25-26).

At his trial,
when his mission was nearly accomplished, the High Priest
administered to Jesus the Oath of the Testimony, which
no pious Jew could evade or wrongly answer:

I
adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether
thou be the Christ, the Son of God?

Note how
the High Priest knew the promise to David. The Christ
was not only to be a ruler, but the Son of God. Jesus'
reply was:

Thou
hast said(Matthew 26:63-64, see especially
the NIV).

To us this
might seem evasive, but in fact it expressed complete
agreement-in those days courtesy forbad a direct yes
or no.

Later the Roman Governor asked a similar question:

Art thou a king then?

Again came the polite affirmative:

Thou
sayest that I am a king(John 18:37).

And because
of this claim, despite vehement opposition from the
priests, Pilate put over the head of the crucified Jesus
this statement of his kingship:

Jesus
of Nazareth the King of the Jews(John 19:19).

So it is
clear that Jesus said he was the Messiah, but did he
use the term in the same sense as his fellow Jews? Did
he preach about this time of blessing for the world
when he would reign on David's throne as king over the
Kingdom of God?

Or did he
tell his hearers that they had all the time been mistaken
in their beliefs: that the Kingdom of God was not literal,
and that his reign consisted rather of his sovereignty
over their present lives?

Even a cursory
reading of the gospels supplies the answer. Jesus supported
completely the Old Testament concept of the Messiah.
He spoke of the time when he would come and sit
on the throne of his glory(Matthew 25:31), when
his disciples would share the responsibility of rulership
with him (Matthew 19:28). He said Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
and all the prophets would be in the Kingdom of God,
and would sit down there with multitudes who had been
gathered from all the points of the compass (Luke 13:29).

THE PEOPLES' VIEW OF JESUS

Those who
heard Jesus and were not prejudiced by his apparently
lowly origin found his claims to Messiahship convincing.
Andrew exclaimed to his brother Peter:

We
have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted,
the Christ(John 1:41).

And Philip also told his friend Nathaniel:

We
have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the
prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth(v45).

A year or
so later, after listening to Jesus and witnessing his
power to heal, the people asked:

Is
not this the Son of David?(Matthew 12:23).

Three years
in the company of Jesus made the disciples even more
convinced of Jesus' claim. On one occasion He asked
them who they thought he was. Peter, as ever, was their
spokesman, answering again in the language of the promises
to the fathers:

Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God(Matthew
16:16).

If Jesus
was not to be the Messiah in the conventional Jewish
sense, here was an ideal opportunity to educate Peter
and the rest of his disciples concerning his real mission.
But his answer confirmed that the confidently expressed
view of Peter was correct:

Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is
in heaven(v17).

THE EFFECT OF CHRIST'S PREACHING

There can
be no doubt, therefore, that when Jesus Went about
all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom(Matthew
9:35), he was telling them about the fulfilment of the
promises to Abraham and David. What he did not directly
tell them was when he would establish the Kingdom.
Bearing in mind the oppressive Roman occupation of their
land, it is not surprising that having recognised their
Messiah in Jesus, the Jews then expected him there and
then to throw off the Roman yoke, set up again the throne
of David, and rule in righteousness as the prophets
had predicted. On the final occasion that Jesus travelled
to Jerusalem this expectation rose to fever pitch. As
he went up the road from Jericho more and more excited
crowds joined him until he arrived at Jerusalem accompanied
by a multitude of chanting men women and children acclaiming
him as the Messiah, the Son of David:

And
the multitudes that went before, and that followed,
cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David:
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest(Matthew 21:9).

But all know
what happened to Jesus during this visit to Jerusalem.
He was arrested. A few days later the a similar crowd
that welcomed him into the city clamoured for his crucifixion,
and within a few hours Jesus was hanging lifeless on
the cross. Does this mean Jesus was not the Messiah?
That he was an impostor, and all his claims to be the
son promised to Abraham and David were false?

Not at all.
Had those Jews studied their Scriptures with more perception
they would have seen that there were two aspects
to the Messiah's work. We have already seen that part
of the blessing that is to come on the world by the
work of Abraham's seed is the forgiveness of men's sins.
His sacrifice on the cross made that forgiveness possible,
and is a vital aspect of the Saviour's mission that
we will consider in detail in chapter 9. But for the
moment we must return to Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom
of God.

On that fateful
journey to Jerusalem, Jesus had already indicated that
although the Kingdom of God would come, it was
not to appear immediately. Luke records the teaching
of Jesus as he journeyed with them:

And
as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable,
because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they
thought that the kingdom of God should immediately
appear(Luke 19:11).

How did this
parable attempt to correct the impression? Its opening
words supply the answer:

He
said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far
country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return
(v12).

The nobleman
is obviously Jesus himself, and by this parable he told
them that he would have to go away into a far
country, an unmistakable reference to his ascent
to heaven. Then he was to come back to earth
with the authority to set up the Kingdom. A few days
later he privately gave his disciples a similar message.
He spoke of many terrible things that were yet to happen
to Jerusalem and the Jewish people, but eventually he
would return for the salvation of the world:

And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory .... So likewise ye, when
ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the
kingdom of God is nigh at hand(Luke
21:27,31).

Here is a
summary of what we have ascertained so far about Christ's
preaching:

Jesus
preached the gospel, or good news, of the Kingdom
of God.

His
hearers expected a literal Kingdom on earth, as
promised
to their 'fathers'.

They
regarded Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.

Jesus
taught that the Kingdom would be set up at his
second
coming rather than at his first ministry.

The tragic
thing about the disciples' attitude was that Christ's
warnings about his impending death had not sunk in.
From being on the crest of the wave at his triumphal
entry into Jerusalem they plunged to the depths of despair
at his crucifixion. The person they genuinely thought
to be the Messiah was dead! As one of them commented
a few days later:

We
trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed
Israel(Luke 24:21).

But then
the most wonderful thing happened! Jesus rose from the
dead and appeared to them. They talked with him, ate
with him and examined his nail-scarred hands. He indeed
showed himself alive after his passion by many
infallible proofs(Acts 1:3). And what did the
resurrected Jesus and his disciples talk about? Luke
tells us in the same passage: it was nothing less than
the Kingdom of God. He was

Seen
of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God.

IS NOW THE TIME?

It is not
difficult to imagine the reaction of the disciples.
Jesus had vindicated his claim to be the Messiah by
his resurrection: he was talking about the Kingdom of
God that the prophets had predicted: surely the time
they had been waiting for had arrived at last! With
eager voices they asked him if he was about to take
David's throne and reign as king:

Lord,
wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?(Acts 1:6)

Again, what
a marvellous opportunity here for Christ to correct
them if their concept of the Kingdom was wrong. What
better time than now to explain to them that the Kingdom
he came to establish was a spiritual one: to tell them
that as they went out to convert the world they would
be creating God's Kingdom by building up a body of believers
who would spread the influence and domain of God throughout
the world.

But Jesus
did not correct them. His only comment was on the timing
of the Kingdom's appearance, not the fact of it:

It
is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which
the Father hath put in his own power(v7).

These were
almost Christ's last words to the disciples. As they
stood there looking at him he rose into heaven and was
gone. Jesus had appeared and disappeared before during
those forty days after his resurrection, but this was
obviously the final parting, and they watched him go
with heavy hearts. Maybe the thought again crossed their
minds: Is this the end?If it did, it was
soon dispelled by two white-robed men who had silently
joined the group. These angels had emphatic words of
reassurance:

Ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go
into heaven(v11).

So the disciples
knew that the hope of the Kingdom was not extinguished,
but its fulfilment would be delayed until Jesus returned.

THE FIRST PREACHING OF CHRISTIANITY

A few days
after the ascension of their Master, the disciples came
under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit as the
prophets had been in the past (Acts 2:1-4). They immediately
put this new-found power and authority into effect and
commenced the task of convincing first the Jews and
then the whole world that Jesus was the Messiah.

They started
in Jerusalem. A crowd gathered and Peter started talking
to them about Jesus. Here is the very first occasion
on which Christianity is being preached to the world.
And to what did Peter refer? Nothing else than the
promise God made to David! He reminded his
audience that God told David that he would have a son,
the Christ, to sit on his throne. The argument was that
David foresaw the death and resurrection of his descendant;
and as this man Jesus whom the Jews had just crucified
could be proved to have risen from the dead, he therefore
must be the promised seed, the Christ:

Men
and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David .... Therefore being a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that
of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up (the) Christ to sit on his throne;
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of
(the) Christ ....(Acts 2:29-31).

Having shown
that the Scriptures foretold the death and resurrection
of the Christ, Peter then forced home his point:

This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are
witnesses(v32).

And He concludes:

Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ(v36).

Notice that
Peter was not attempting in any way to modify the Jews'
concept of their Messiah. His object was simply to prove
that Jesus was the one promised.

In his preaching
a day or two later Peter told his audience that the
blessings of the Kingdom foretold in the Old Testament
would come about when Jesus returned to the earth:

And
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached
unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began(Acts 3:20- 21).

We were not
in error therefore in going to the Old Testament to
learn about the mission of Jesus. On the Apostle Peter's
authority this is the place where his great work is
predicted. Can you now recognise the vital role of the
Hebrew Scriptures in our understanding of the work of
Christ? Can you appreciate more fully the theme that
runs like the golden thread though all the Bible and,
marvelling at this achievement, acknowledge that it
could only be the work of God?

THE THEME OF FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANITY

This way
of describing the work of Christ was maintained by all
the first century disciples. The coming Kingdom of God
at the return of Jesus was the consistent theme. Although
it may appear repetitious I would like to quote several
well known New Testament inspired preachers to establish
this beyond doubt. Of Philip we read:

Then
Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached
Christ unto them(Acts 8:5).

A few verses
further on there is a definition of what his preaching
about Christ involved:

....
they believed Philip preaching the things concerning
the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus
Christ ....(v12).

One of the
greatest exponents of Christianity was the Apostle Paul,
who was particularly concerned with preaching to the
Gentiles. Let us eavesdrop on one or two of his addresses.
At Antioch, like Peter at Jerusalem, he introduces the
promise to David, and says of him:

Of
this man's seed hath God according to his promise
raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus(Acts 13:23).

Thus we see
that Paul believed that Jesus was the promised son of
David, with all it implied. Speaking to the Athenians
near the Acropolis he tells them of God's intention
to judge the world by the righteous rule of Jesus:

He
hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he
hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead
(Acts 17:31).

At Ephesus Paul went into the synagogue and:

Spake
boldly for the space of three months, disputing and
persuading the things concerning the kingdom of
God(Acts 19:8).

He told the Ephesians that he had gone among them:

Preaching the kingdom of God(Acts 20:25).

That Paul
preached Jesus as the ruler of a literal Kingdom is
evident from the reaction of his adversaries at Thessalonica.
They accused Paul of doing things

Contrary
to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another
king, one Jesus(Acts 17:7).

Clearly the
coming rule of Jesus was regarded as a threat to the
Emperor. We can be sure that preaching a mystical or
symbolic king would not have aroused such a reaction.

Even when
he was imprisoned for his beliefs he could say to his
visitors:

For
the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain
(Acts 28:20).

And this hope is defined a few verses later:

....
he expounded and testified the kingdom of God,
persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the
law of Moses, and out of the prophets ....(v23).

The whole
of his activity whilst in prison is summed up by the
last verse of the Acts:

Preaching
the kingdom of God, and teaching those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.(v31).

CHRIST'S RETURN THE HOPE OF ORIGINAL CHRISTIANS

A study of
first century Christian writings clearly demonstrates
that the return of Jesus to set up on earth the Kingdom
of God was the principal hope of the believers. As an
example refer to the epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians,
where there are repeated allusions to it as the culmination
of believers' expectations (e.g. I Thessalonians 1:10;
2:19; 3:13; 4:15-16: 5:2 etc.).

The return
of Jesus to the earth was considered vital by those
Christians not only because it would mean blessings
for the whole earth under Christ's righteous rule, but
because only then would their own salvation be achieved.
Any idea of instant reward at death is foreign to New
Testament Christianity. Read carefully these examples
of the Apostles' teaching:

I
charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall judge the quick (i.e. the living)
and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom
.... Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day: and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing
(2 Timothy 4:1,8).

That
the trial of your faith .... might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ: Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is
to be brought unto you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ(1 Peter 1:7,13)

When
the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away(1 Peter
5:4).

But
we know that, when he shall appear, we shall
be like him(1 John 3:2).

And Christ's
very last message to his followers, contained in the
closing verses of the Bible, is:

Behold,
I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to
give every man according as his work shall be
(Revelation 22:12).

There is
therefore not the slightest doubt that the return of
Jesus Christ to the earth to set up the Kingdom of God
and to reward his true followers was the hope of the
original Christians.

A SUMMARY OF THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL

In previous
chapters I have usually placed at the end a brief summary
that lists the main points covered in the previous few
pages. At this point it might be useful to present a
more extended summary of the things we have gleaned
so far from our study of the Old and New Testaments
of the Bible.

You may recall
that in chapter 1 we saw that the Kingdom of God was
the theme of the preaching of Christ and the apostles,
and that the dozens of references to it could only be
reconciled with each other by regarding the Kingdom
as a literal one. We then looked at the remarkable prophecy
of the metallic statue which predicted that the Kingdom
of Men would one day suddenly be replaced by a world-wide
Kingdom of God.

With this
general outline in mind we then took a tremendous leap
forward into the future, and from the Old Testament
prophets and some New Testament references obtained
the delightful picture of a world freed from all present
evils, and governed by a wise, righteous, but firm divine
ruler.

We then went
back almost to the beginning of the Bible to trace the
way in which God planned to bring about this perfect
time. God selected Abraham to be the father of His nation,
and made to him a solemn promise, guaranteed by His
own existence. Abraham was to have a descendant in whom
all the earth would one day be blessed, and who would
possess the earth and rule over it, bringing all nations
into subjection to him.

About a thousand
years later God appeared to king David who now ruled
over Abraham's descendants, the nation of Israel. He
too was to have a son, in fact the same person as promised
to Abraham, and again the emphasis was on rulership.
David's son was to reign for ever on David's throne
and establish his kingdom throughout eternity.

Combining these two great promises the Jews looked forward to
the coming of the one they called their Messiah, in
whom both the promises would find fulfilment. In the
inspired writings of the prophets are many references
to this coming Messiah and the work that he would do
in bringing blessing to the earth.

Coming forward
to the New Testament we found that its opening verse
was an immediate link with these promises, and that
at the birth of Jesus it was predicted that he was the
one in whom they would come to fruition. Throughout
his ministry Jesus continually demonstrated that he
was the Messiah, but taught that his role as world ruler
would be fulfilled only after he had gone away to heaven
and then returned.

After his
resurrection Jesus continued to preach a literal Kingdom,
and this theme was taken up by his apostles in their
bid to convert men and women to Christianity. The Kingdom
of God on earth was the keynote of the original Christian
message as preached by apostles such as Peter and Paul,
whose writings are full of references to it.

FIRST CENTURY v. TWENTIETH CENTURY

After this
review of first century belief and teaching about the
Kingdom of God the question obviously arises, Does twentieth
century Christianity share these original beliefs? If
it doesn't, why the change?